BULLETIN NO.: MGR-95-054
TO: All Reinsured Companies
All Risk Management Field Offices
FROM: Kenneth D. Ackerman /s/ Michael Hand 12/28/95
Deputy Administrator
SUBJECT: Dollar Denominated Coverage Presentation and Premium Calculation
Software for Crop Insurance Sales Agents
BACKGROUND:
The Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act of 1994 requires that "Not later than
the beginning of the 1996 crop year, the Corporation shall provide producers
with information on catastrophic risk and additional coverage in terms of
dollar coverage (within the allowable limits of coverage ...)."
In June 1995, Risk Management personnel were asked to provide software to
automate the 1996 crop year actuarial worksheet calculations done by agents.
This software was developed and released August 1, 1995. A second release of
the software was planned to include capabilities to import the actuarial data
electronically to eliminate the need to refer to the paper actuarial documents,
thus further simplifying the premium calculation process necessary for
presentation of an offer to a producer.
To address the legislative requirement, the worksheet automation software
package has been expanded to allow a producer to request a range of desired
premium payments per acre or various coverage levels per acre. The output
for these requests are tables presenting the full range of premium costs and
dollar coverage combinations that will allow a producer to make informed
decisions on their risk management protection that best suits his/her
situation.
The Premium Calculation software has been developed for use by crop insurance
agents to assist them in presenting and comparing the full range of crop
insurance options to a producer. Risk Management has an unlimited license
which allows the software to be copied as many times as needed without
charge.
Software capabilities, hardware requirements, and installation instructions
are attached.
ACTION:
The Premium Calculation software and actuarial data are being distributed by
Risk Management's Office of Research and Development. The Premium
Calculation software is currently available on the Reporting Organization
(RO) Server in Kansas City for downloading. Actuarial data should be
extracted from the Actuarial Data Master (ADM) which is also available on the
RO Server.
Reinsured companies have the option to download the Premium Calculation
software and supporting ADM data and copy/distribute the software and data to
their agents as needed or desired. Updates and enhancements will be
provided periodically via the RO Server.
Call (816) 926-7910 for assistance with loading problems or software
problems that are not covered by the on-line Help.
Attachments
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FSA/Office of Risk Management
Premium Calculation Software, Version 1.0
Minimum Hardware/Software Requirements
1. Hardware: IBM PC or compatible, 386/486/Pentium processor.
2. Operating System: MicroSoft Windows 3.1 or newer.
3. Memory: At least 8 MB of RAM is recommended. The Premium Calculation
software will run with 4 MB of RAM if the virtual memory option of
Windows is used; however, the software's performance will be greatly
impaired (slow).
4. Storage: The hard disk drive should have 16 MB of available space for
the average user. The space requirements break down as follows:
The PowerBuilder and ODBC libraries and driver files used by the application
use 7 MB. (The PowerBuilder library files are required to be loaded on any
PC that does not already have PowerBuilder V4.0.02 installed.)
The Premium Calculation executable software, associated files, database, and
backup database file take about 4 MB of disk space. The database will be
deployed with cross-reference data already loaded (i.e., allowable
state/county/crop/type/practice codes with definitions).
The optional Help file takes approximately 0.5 MB of disk space.
Another 2 MB of disk space should be allowed for loading the Actuarial Data
Master (ADM) data into the database. Additional disk space may be required
depending on the number of states and counties loaded.
The Premium Calculation software will read and load ADM data from a text data
file provided by Risk Management. Another 2 MB of disk space is temporarily
required for the ADM loading process. Additional disk space may be required
depending on the number of states and counties contained on the text file.
After the data has been loaded into the database, the file can be removed and
the space made available.
NOTE: There are no restrictions on the number of copies of this application
that can be made and distributed under the existing license held by Risk
Management. However, any modifications to the source code (available upon
request from the Actuarial Branch) must be made using a valid, licensed copy
of PowerBuilder.
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FSA/Office of Risk Management
Premium Calculation Software, Version 1.0
Software Capabilities Summary
The Premium Calculation Software being released by the Farm Service Agency's
(FSA) Office of Risk Management (FCIC) is a Windows-based crop insurance
sales tool for agents, and provides mandated dollar coverage presentation
options. Features of the software include:
Tailored to agent needs with producer log and customized quote sheets.
Electronic actuarial data loading tailored to counties in which the agent
sells.
Point-and-click screens with pull down selections and on-line Help.
Minimal data entry required for a quote, with data carried over to facilitate
multiple units and effects of options.
Selection/presentation of price election and dollar coverage option
s (i.e., premium cost per acre, and coverage per acre).
Includes all published actuarial rates, prices, dates, options, factors.
Automated calculations including:
Liability (total and per acre);
Guarantee (total and per acre);
Premium (total and farmer-paid);
Subsidies and administrative fees.
Comparison of CAT coverage to all price/coverage possibilities.
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FSA/Office of Risk Management
Instructions for Installing
Premium Calculation Software, Version 1.0
1 Insert the Premium Calculation Software Disk 1 into the 3-1/2" floppy
drive.
2. Run the SETUP program on the diskette. (This example uses drive A - your
floppy drive may be different.)
From Windows Program Manager, choose FILE>RUN and type: a:\setup
The Premium Calculation checkbox should be checked
If on-line Help is desired, the Help File checkbox should be checked
Check the 2 checkboxes for PowerBuilder DLL Files and PB/ODBC Files (These
2 checkboxes do not need to be checked if you have PowerBuilder Version
4.0.02 installed on your computer.)
Click the OK button
When prompted for creating the directory c:\premium, answer YES
If on-line Help is being loaded, answer YES when prompted for creating the
directory c:\premium\help
3. When the installation is complete, a new Program Group should be added
(refer to your Windows documentation for assistance).
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FSA/Office of Risk Management
Premium Calculation Software, Version 1.0
Instructions for Loading ADM Text Data
After the Premium Calculation software has been successfully loaded, the next
step is to load the database (c:\premium\adm.db) with ADM data so the
application can execute. The ADM text file is available to be downloaded
from the Reporting Organization (RO) Server in Kansas City. The text file
has to be loaded only one time to populate the database. However, as new
releases of the Actuarial Data Master (ADM) file are made available on the RO
Server, they should be downloaded into the Premium Calculation database. The
Premium Calculation software requires the following ADM record types (as
determined from column 1 of each ADM record):
1 - Yield, Dollar Amount, Guarantee, and Rate Data
2 - Rate Factors
3 - Dates
4 - Prices
7 - FCI-32 Classification Listings (Producer)
H - High Risk Factor Data
O - Option Data
M - Map Factor Data
R - Rate Class Option Data
(NOTE: It is very important that all of the ADM data be located in one text
file before attempting to load the data into the Premium Calculation software
database. Due to the large space requirements for the year-to-date ADM text
file and the time required for the software to process and save the ADM data,
we recommend that users create a smaller ADM text file that contains only the
data for the desired counties/states.)
To initiate the database load process from the Premium Calculation software,
select the "Database Transfer" sub-menu item from the "Administration" menu,
or click on the "Data Xfer" button located on the toolbar. The "Database
File Transfer" window will open and allow the user to enter the name of the
ADM text file. The user can opt to load all of the valid data into the
database (by selecting the "Full Load File" button) or to load only selected
counties/states (by selecting the Partial File Load" button). Click the
"Load File" button to start the load process. If the "Partial File Load"
option was selected, the software will read the ADM text file and then allow
the user to select desired counties/states before the database load is
executed.